Rhodes v. City of Asheville
| Decision Date | 11 May 1949 |
| Docket Number | 162 |
| Citation | 53 S.E.2d 313,230 N.C. 759 |
| Parties | RHODES v. CITY OF ASHEVILLE. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
On their petition for rehearing the defendants contend that the one quetion presented on the appeal was as to the effect of the language used in the Act under which the Asheville-Hendersonville Airport Authority was created, to wit: 'The acquisition, establishment, construction, enlargement, improvement, maintenance * * * and the exercise of any other powers herein granted to municipalities, are hereby declared to be public, governmental and municipal functions, exercised for a public purpose and matters of public necessity. ' They contend that this is plain, unambiguous language which does not call for interpretation, and that none was sought, either by the appellee or the appellants. The petition for rehearing is based on the assumption that the Court misapprehended the question presented and proceeded to construe the language rather than to give it the force and effect plainly intended by the Legislature.
Unquestionably the Legislature intended to declare that the operation of the Asheville-Hendersonville Airport should be deemed and held to be in furtherance of a governmental function. But the mere legislative declaration to that effect did not make it so, for that is a judicial and not a legislative question. On consideration of the question as presented on the appeal, we were compelled, for the reasons there stated, to conclude that the operation of the airport is a proprietary undertaking.
We cannot attribute to the language used the force and effect urged by appellants. Instead, we must construe it in such manner as to bring it within the legislative authority of the General Assembly and make it consistent with the validity of the statute in which it is used. This is in accord with the applicable rule of construction.
The petition is denied.
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Anderson, By and Through Doss v. Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, 53194
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Anderson v. Jackson Municipal Airport Authority
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...and the other not, the courts will adopt the former and reject the latter." Id. at 29, 399 S.E.2d at 315 (citing Rhodes v. City of Asheville , 230 N.C. 759, 53 S.E.2d 313 (1949) ).The first section of Part 2A of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the North Carolina General Statutes is N.C.G.S. §......
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Harrelson v. City of Fayetteville, 695
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